5/5 Get the ArtHaus Version Instead
  by Ben Franklin (USA)
The Kultur version only has DD 2.0 sound while the ArtHaus version gives you the choice of PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, and DTS 5.1. The latter also has an hour long documentary, "Gluck the Reformer", which is one of the best extras I've seen on an opera DVD. On it, conductors William Christie and John Eliot Gardiner explain just what Gluck was reforming, director Claus Guth explains what was going on with the masked shadows, and the three principal singers explain further aspects of the story line. This version is available from many sources, like the UK Amazon.

In the US, in order to play the ArtHaus version, you will need to buy an all region DVD player that converts PAL to NTSC. You should have one on hand, in any case, for other DVDs that are only available in non US formats. Philips DVP5140 Multiformat DVD Player with DivX, MP3, Windows Media Support is inexpensive and does the job quite well. The reviews give information on how it can easily be made region free.

5/5 Intense Production of Great Opera
  by Dr. John W. Rippon
I would like to second the opinion of reviewer "jswell". I'm a great fan of Gluck and would also affirm the opinions of reviewer "C. Boerger" as to his significance in the history of opera. That said, I cannot praise enough this intense, rapidly moving production of Iphigenie en Tauride. I think the pantomimes on stage are in effect as important as the witches and ghost in Macbeth. They markedly add to the drama. Great production!

5/5 Superior production, quality
  by jswell (Chicago, IL)
Most of the reviews concerning this "abstract" production are from opera fans who never saw this opera. I did, in a similar "abstract" production at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and it turned out to be one of the most remarkable operas I and my friends had ever seen. Trust me, you would not enjoy this opera with everyone standing statically in their Greek robes. The singers, all of them are world-class. One of the best DVD operas available. Sung in the original French, the diction is so clear, I hardly needed the subtitles.
And, the subtitles in English only, are very easy to read.

3/5 Search Quirk
  by RicardoM (Connecticut)
The new Met production of Iphigenie, featuring Susan Graham, was reviewed in the 11/29/07 New York Times by Anthony Tommasini, who raves about Graham's singing and the overall musical direction. Amazon also offers a Mozarteum audio CD version featuring Graham and Thomas Hampson. The Mozarteum's stage production, from the cover photo, appears related to the Met's as described by Tommasini. With Graham, Hampson and 5 Amazon stars the Mozarteum audio version may be a reasonable alternative to Christie's musically good but visually distracting effort. I've put the CD in my shopping cart.

It's quirky that different search results come up depending on whether one tells Amazon to look for Iphigenie or Iphegenie. Both produce hits, but different ones!

1/5 Terrible production
  by R. Kramer (New Haven, CT)
This production is ludicrous. The tempi are wrong, the chorus is too small, but mostly the production is so bad as to make Sellars seem insightful. The concept of masks, etc, is annoying, distracting and utterly assinine.